Banned from Facebook pages twice in 2 days!

Sometimes, interesting things happen when you read friends’ Facebook pages. I’m not talking about going to look on purpose, which I’ve done before. I’m just referring to seeing something on your news feed and clicking on it. That got me, as the title clearly says, banned from Facebook pages twice in 2 days! The one I care about is a longtime friend I used to respect, but there’s also the radio talk show host full of hate who I’d never heard of until last night.

I may feel bad about one, but can’t regret either.

Regular readers know I don’t like Facebook and friends are leaving it over privacy issues. I personally have concerns over its business practices and censorship (and lack-of when it comes to Holocaust denial). Many business people say 2019 will not be a good year for Facebook. I hope they’re right. The company deserves that.

By the way, I got no responses from any of them about my blog posts. I never contacted Foden, and I stopped trying with Kenney and Hikes after learning Kenney’s father died almost a month ago. It’s never my goal to make matters worse during a person’s time of grief, but I had asked both of them for answers several times and neither (nor staff members) bothered to get back to me at all, like decent public servants.

Think of those phrases about aging, and how the older you get, the less you care what people think of you. I’m getting there.

So just a warning: Don’t be surprised if I go after you because you can’t behave like a civilized human being.

And another warning: This next part of the post may not be appropriate for children due to cursing, not the subject matter.

Case in point: a Buffalo hypnotist and radio talk show host who actually spends a lot of time at his home near St. Petersburg, Fla. A friend of mine was a Facebook friend of his until last night.

At least this overblown tabloid got its references right. See below for links to learn for yourself.

According to the article,

“The woman had just bought an item at the counter.”

Then,

“She demanded her money back after being called ‘sir’ by the male shop attendant, then raged at a fellow shopper who called her ‘sir’ again and asked her to stop swearing as there were children present.”

I don’t know what really happened. The article admits,

“The clip began with the woman already at boiling point.”

Also,

“She complained of being repeatedly misgendered by the store clerk and demanded to have the company’s corporate number in order to make a complaint,”

and it said,

“She aggressively pointed at the clerk as he repeatedly apologized.”

Personally, I wonder why either “sir” or “ma’am” had to be used when a genuinely friendly smile and good customer service should make anyone happy. Less is more!

Transitioning is tough. Nobody can snap their fingers and become the gender they feel they were born to be. There are medical issues, getting experience being “out” as the other gender, and possibly surgeries. That’s plural, for obvious reasons. And don’t forget legal issues over identity. Plus, have some compassion!

“Any entity that owns or leases a structure open to the general public, including but not limited to Retail Establishments and City-owned buildings, that currently has or at any time establishes one or more single-occupancy bathroom facilities for public use, shall provide Gender-neutral Signage for such facilities.

An entity that has bathroom facilities with gender usage indicated by art work or design may, if such designs predate the effective date of this Ordinance, retain such designs, provided that they use signage that clearly indicates that the bathroom may be used by any person or persons, regardless of gender identity.”

For the past three years, businesses with single-occupancy restrooms must post signs showing they’re gender-neutral,

all new city buildings must be built with gender-neutral bathrooms included in the plans, and

in cases of no single-occupancy restrooms, transgender individuals can use whichever bathroom the person feels most comfortable in.

My friend’s Facebook post didn’t make me happy. I should note he’s a Florida Republican, but I think the post was a lot better than it would’ve been if we hadn’t started discussing the issue a while back.

Then, the responses piled up.

In the middle, you can see what I wrote. I don’t know the type of day that person was having, so I’m not going to make judgments about anything other than her creating a very bad scene.

Then I went on to give facts from the American Medical Association to the uneducated, or simply people who don’t know anyone in the situation.

Click here for the AMA’s “Policies on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer (LGBTQ) issues,” which starts by saying it

“supports the equal rights, privileges and freedom of all individuals and opposes discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion, disability, ethnic origin, national origin or age.

Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of the AMA communities and AMA policies on LGBTQ issues that work to inform individuals about LGBTQ discrimination and abuse. AMA’s policies for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people’s rights represent a multiplicity of identities and issues.”

The response was disappointing. The world is a changing place and there’s too much hate here in America already.

Last night, the person a Buffalo hypnotist and radio talk show host I referred to above wrote on the same string I started with information from the AMA that he doesn’t like transgendered (sic) people and they all need help, or something to that effect. I can’t quote exactly, because we had an exchange, he lost the discussion, got angry, deleted the posts, and blocked me. Note: That’s all his fault, especially not being able to quote him exactly!

Keep in mind, his radio gig is Saturday mornings, and the big promotional teases of energy and controversy have been around for decades. Any idiot can speak into a microphone (or telephone from Florida) and say stupid things. This is just one example.

I wrote up a six-part Twitter story with evidence on what happened on Facebook. Click the pictures that were cut off to see them in full. (Don’t forget, you can see my Twitter posts on the side of bottom of this website. I haven’t blocked anybody.)

He started by addressing the word all, but killed that post and others, or blocked me, before I saw any of it. Luckily, Facebook emailed to say he mentioned me.

4/6 My favorite lines in the @RobertSaviola critique above are, “Limbaugh and Hannity look like Edward R. Murrow in comparison,”and,“He also sounded like he had no more than a 2nd grade education, mispronouncing some very elementary words.” @NewsRadio930pic.twitter.com/LxOKPRD09q

So there you have it: The truth about Robert Saviola. I wonder which other groups of people he hates.

Notice I used his Twitter handle in every post. He apparently hasn’t used Twitter since 2014. So much for business and promotion! You’ll also see the radio station’s handle on every post. Hopefully they’ll rethink his employment.

Today, he I saw he’d responded to my post that I didn’t get it, but he didn’t bother to explain. Some teacher!

Then, with the media knowledge I have and he lacks, I explained about the people he referenced:

Andy Cohen (no relation) does nothing for me, actually works for Bravo (NBC) and SiriusXM, was just moonlighting with CNN for the night, and was responsible for this article.

I worked with Don Lemon and ran into him at Woody’s, many years ago. Need I explain his reputation, these days? In fact, this article is from today!

Richard Quest is most famous for his accent and his unusual arrest. (Warning: British accents are OK for children but details of Quest’s arrest are definitely not!)

At least Anderson Cooper, a respectable journalist, has been nicer to people when he’s off camera than he has been in the past, so I’ve heard.

That’s when the conversation turned to email.

HE EMAILED: “You are over analyzing a totally innocent comment of mine. In my childhood, I saw no openly gay peeps on any TV. 50 years later there are 4 on national TV at the same time. End of story. Has nothing to do with ratings, personal role models, reputations, etc. The others who saw my post totally got it.”

I EMAILED: “Maybe ‘the others’ are older but ‘being there’ shouldn’t cut it in 2018/9.”

HE EMAILED: “Lenny…you and I will have to agree to disagree…you continue to miss my point. You are taking my feeling of joy and amazement and shitting on it.”

As if that was my intention! Keep in mind this was a discussion with a former high school math teacher who was a longtime friend.

I EMAILED: “If ‘ooh, ahh’ does it for you, then enjoy.”

HE EMAILED: “If you feel so strongly, please post your opinions on your own FB page. It’s really not polite to use someone else’s page for your personal platform.”

First, I didn’t watch. I had nothing to post; just a response to his thought like several other Facebook friends of his. That’s how Facebook works!

And keep in mind, I wrote two posts: one on his original, yesterday – and another on his response which I noticed today.

Then I emailed longer:

“I’m sorry. I didn’t watch or bring it up. I just happened to see it on my friend’s timeline (like others did), and shared my thoughts (as others did).

‘It’s really not polite to use someone else’s page for your personal platform.’

Are you trying to silence me because my thought was different?

That wouldn’t be very liberal. I don’t think the ACLU would agree. Most Americans would say I’m entitled to my opinion.

I have plenty of other things to do than add to the discussion. I only did so today because I saw you responded. (Do you think you should’ve taken a moment to explain your response yesterday?)

I’m sorry if you can’t handle so many different thoughts and opinions around the country and the world, but they exist.”

That’s when I realized posts were missing.

“Yes, _____. Censorship is the answer. That’s what the right says about the left and you’ve proven them correct!

I gave the facts and you can’t disprove me. I also explained why.

I also taught the person who wanted to know about lesbians at NBC. I hope that person saw the answer, along with the Philadelphia connection, before you recklessly killed that post.

You ought to be ashamed, thinking Facebook is only for people who agree with you blindly. So much for the exchange of ideas!”

I had realized somebody asked a question and I answered it. I hope they read about Stephanie Gosk and wife Jenna Wolfe, along with her Philadelphia connection as weekend sports anchor on the former WB17 News at 10, before it was deleted from that string! Make that a grand total of *three* Facebook posts I made!

And then I realized he had the nerve to block me!

“This is too much. And then blocking me from your Facebook page when I didn’t insult anyone you know, but simply told the truth about famous people you mentioned!

I don’t think they deserve medals for being gay. I think we should be proud if they do their jobs well, are role models (as I mentioned since we’re both former teachers), and inspire the next generation.

This proves my original point. I expect more from people I rely on for news than just ‘being there’ and the same goes for people I associate with. You don’t qualify.

You’ve shown you don’t care to discuss anything, exchange ideas, or maybe even learn about someone else’s profession. It’s people like you who cause others to #WalkAway.”

He added this post to the bottom of his, as if to apologize for me.

He’s more like the people in these two videos than he realizes!

The vape guy who wouldn’t sell was fired. And by the way, there should be “No Recording” signs at the entrance if it’s not allowed. Without a sign, the person recording should stop at the point they’re told to stop.

My former friend is more like the vape guy than he realizes. I don’t know what caused him to overreact the way he did. Maybe it was a ‘senior moment.’ Maybe he’s stressed. Regardless, I certainly didn’t deserve it. I’m not a student of his and he can’t play dictator with me. I’ve known him for two decades and earned the respect to have my opinion treated with respect. Especially since I still think I’m right!

I should point out CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage beat Fox News Channel and MSNBC’s. Maybe more Americans felt it was the least of the cable evils.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to compare cable ratings with broadcast ratings since I can’t find the number of viewers vs. number of viewers, or ratings points (households or demographics) that can be compared. I looked all over but used Deadline magazine as my source for both broadcast and cable numbers because it was the closest I could find.

So those are two of my Facebook experiences over the past 24 hours. I can only wait for the second story to haunt me but I didn’t cause it, I wasn’t the one who started getting rude, I didn’t name a name even though many people will easily figure it out, and I told the truth as usual.

His loss. I do hope this post isn’t used against me, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take. As I mentioned with Dr. Seuss before, I’m not going to live by what others think.

By the way, my year-end post is on its way. Lots of updates! For that delay, and only that, I APOLOGIZE!

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